Earth 75
More than one thousand years ago, the great god-leader Strutios, formed a band of loyal followers and conquered the chaotic world. For each of his six most loyal compatriots he allocate control of an element for them and their supporters. These powers still govern society and lead to unjust social classes. To clan in the Northwest that would eventually be called the Blitzane Empire he gave the power of Firegift. To clan in the central coastal region that would eventually be called the Bahrjak Union he gave the power of Watergift. To clan of the South Eastern peninsula that would one day be called the Sameer Raj he gave the power of Airgift. To clan in the eastern plains and hills that would eventually be called the Yánshí Kingdom he gave the power of Earthgift. To clan of the south west that would eventually be called the Chombo State he gave the power of Metalgift. To clan of the eastern islands that would eventually be called the Śūnyatā Republic he gave the power of Voidgift. Giftlore Principles All giftlore can only use the corporeal energy of its users. This severely limits its usefulness, though clever Gifters find ways to minimize energy use. Ancestry Giftlore is based on ancestry. There are three kinds of bloodlines whose origin date back to the time of Strutios. Bloodlines descended from Strutios' six most loyal generals are called Regos. Bloodlines descended from the high ranking followers of these generals are called Atlos. All other bloodlines are called Kalmos. Anyone descended from pure Atlos bloodlines is a Noble. They have full mastery of their element's giftlore including some of the special abilities of that element called Highpowers. Anyone descended from mixed Atlos and Kalmos bloodlines is a Commoner. They have the basic telekenetic control of their element, but cannot access the special Highpowers. These make up the bulk of most societies. Anyone descended from pure Kalmos bloodlines are called Downcasts. They cannot use any Giftlore. They are incredibly rare and are discriminated against. Firegift Basic Firegifters can telekenetically manipulate heat and fire. This can be used for war, and often has, but it can also be used for industry and toolmaking. Highpowers Noble Firegifters can generate electric current. This can be used for tools and machines but advanced users can even generate lightning. Watergift Basic Watergifters use their telekenetic control of water to water crops and propel their boats. This gives them great advantage in trade. Extremely well studied watergifters can manipulate the water in people's bodies for surgery and healing. Highpowers Noble Watergifters can manipulate the weather. Airgift Basic Airgifters can use their telekinetic control of the air to levitate objects with air pressure and even fly. Highpowers Noble Airgifters can accelerate their own movements and metabolism. Earthgift Basic Earthgifters can use their telekentic control of rocks and soil to form structures and to tend to agriculture. Highpowers Noble Earthgifters can subtlety change the chemistry of natural chemicals. This has mostly been used for agriculture, but recently it has been used for enhanced explosives. Metalgift Basic Metalgifters can use their telekinetic control of various metals to finely craft and manipulate tools. Highpowers Noble Metalgifters can generate powerful magnetic forces. Voidgift Basic Voidgifters do not have traditional telekinetic powers but they can communicate telepathically. Advanced Voidgifters can even transfer energy for Giftlore between people they are contacting. Highpowers Noble Voidgifters can bend space subtly, shortening distances and increasing efficiency. History * A: Blitzane Empire * B: Chombo State * C: Bahrjak Union * D: Sameer Raj * E: Yánshí Kingdom * F: Śūnyatā Republic * G: Mersic Raiders * H: Sahrnic Confederacy * I: Isikhungo Small Nations * J: Tundarik Tribes * K: Kylmä Small Nations The Forgotten Darkness (858 BS - 0 AS) Some say the old civilizations disappeared in one great disaster. Others say the gods Merc, Ruish, and Qain fought a war and that their fighting sunk the old world beneath the sea and a new one was made from their corpses. All agree that for a thousand years the world was ruled by chaos. The Rise of Struitios (0 S - 42 AS) In what he claimed was the 858th year of chaos, a man named Struitios rose to power. Struitios fought a 42 year war to reclaim a new peaceful realm. The world was at that time divided into hundreds warlords and petty states. Before Struitios arrived on the scene there was a group of twelve war-kings who had constructed unstable, rapidly expanding empires. Struitios emerged with amazing powers which let him command the six elements. Over the course of his campaign Struitios recruited six warlords from far flung corners of the world. To each he gave command of one element. They first helped him claim a large area from the edge of the two seas to the great mountains of Sameer. Once this empire was established after 20 long years, he fought a 22 year war to claim the empires of the war-kings. First Peaceful Era (42 AS - 126 AS) After Struitios' war was finished he supposedly lived for another 84 years. Struitios divided his realm into many Prsna. First Dark Age (126 - 351 AS) After Struitios died, or ascended as his disciples claim, his realm split apart into 66 small realms or Alpos made from the previously existing Prsna. The six most powerful Alpos were the ones formed from the six largest Prsna which were controlled by Struitios' six most loyal war lords, called the Noibhon Alpos. Second Peaceful Era (341 AS - 438 AS) After about 200 years of constant fighting 27 Alpos remained. There was a brief period of about 100 years in which the constant war ended and their were only one or two wars between Alpos at any given time. The Royal families had already been established at this time. At the end of this period the Elemental Gifts of Royal and Noble families of the Noibhon Alpos had managed to elevate their nations to be the largest in the known world. Around this time the Earthgift Alpos and the Watergift Alpos split into two seperate Alpos. Second Dark Age (438 AS - 547 AS) The second dark age began when the Seima Morwon, or Alliance of Mortals, formed and began a war of conquest against all the Elementgifters. This led to a series of wars. Eventually the Six Elemental Alpos formed an alliance called the Seimal Skolos which allowed them to survive though they lost much of their territory. The turning point in this time was around the 480s when the laws restricting Nobility-Commoner marriges were relaxed. Over the next two generations elemental gifts became much more common in the Noibhon Alpos and this eventually allowed them to conquer the surrounding nations. Hegemonic Era (547 AS - 821 AS) For several years the eight Noibhon Alpos were the Hegemonic overlords of the known world. They intermarried into the Royal families of many surrounding nations which eventually led to an unstable situation in which many foreign nations also claimed to be the descendants of Struitios' supporters. This issue of legitimacy led to a few minor wars. The balance of power began to shift because the less established nations had more lax laws regarding inter caste marriage. As a result much larger portions of their population had Elementgifts. In particular, there was a relatively minor Kingdom called Blitzane, which was ruled by an off shoot of the Firegift royals and had a large noble class of mercenaries invited in to protect the country from Mersic raiders. Blitzane grew in power as almost its entire population of commoners had some noble ancestry and its armies were battle heartened by war with the Mersic raiders. When the Firgift Alpos led an invasion of the Mersic routes, the Blitzane Kingdom was no longer besieged by raiders and 10 years later they invaded the Firegift Alpos, ending the Hegemonic era but ironically opening themselves and the rest of the world back to Mersic raiding. Third Dark Age (821 AS - 1069 AS) The war between the Blitzane Kingdom and the Firegift Alpos caused a massive destabilization in the region because both sides were left severely weakened. This opened the door for the nomadic Mersic peoples to invade the region, which eventually spiraled into a worldwide war, as many different factions tried to pick up the pieces. Eventually, the Blitzanes got their stuff together long enough to reconquer their home continent, ending the Dark Age and establishing the Blitzane Empire, which was powerful enough to write a peace accord to establish a semi-peaceful balance of global power. Era of the Six (1069 AS - 1424 AS) After the Establishment of the Blitzane Empire, there was an accord reached throughout the gifted lands, known as the Pact of the Six. In it, these nations were recognized and given a seat on an international ruling council: * The Blitzane Empire: an Empire of primarily Firegifted, this nation is known for their electronic device exports and their tendency to try to play "policeman" in their foreign policy, to the irritation of the other nations. * The Chombo State: a large state of primarily Metalgifted. They are known for their material riches as well as being very advanced in their manipulation of metal mechanisms. They tend to want to be left alone. * The Bahrjak Union: A confederation of Watergifted Traders and Mystics. They have the most advanced techniques for medicine. Their council representative historically would be the most interested in fostering cooperation between the various factions (as they would profit from such cooperation). * Sameer Raj: A densely populated Kingdom of primarily those with the Airgift, they tend to be more aggressively expansionist in their foreign policy. They have a long history of feuding with the Yánshí Kingdom over land rights. * The Yánshí Kingdom- Another densely populated kingdom, primarily of Earthgifted, they are the main provider of the world's food resources. They are archrivals with the Sameer Raj, as there is a long history of (from their perspective) land-grabbing and atrocities from the Sameer Raj nation, which they deny. * The Śūnyatā Republic- a Republic of primarily Voidgifters. They, like the Bahrjak Union, typically try to mediate between the other nations and prevent war. Their nation is a major cultural exporter, as many of their people are mystics and religious sages, who have explored the religious aspects of their world's gifts. Their mystics are also pioneers in trying to discover the biological differences which allow only people with Altos ancestry to access gifts. A small Revolutionary Religious cult known as the Sons of Strutios is from this Republic, and have been attempting to create an entirely new gift and give it to the Downcasts. They preach that the main six Gifts have grown arrogant in their treatment to the Downcasts, and need to be punished for their hubris. The Śūnyatā Republic are perhaps the least militarized of the six, with a history of staying out of major international conflicts before joining the six. These six are the member nations of the Council of Six, which meets twice every year, at the solstices. There they make decisions for the way the nations will interact for the rest of the year. Each nation sends a whole host of diplomats to the council of six, but only the nation's leader (or a duly appointed represent thereof) actually sits on the council of six. The decisions made on the Council of Six are binding, and any member nation who reneges on a deal made in these councils risks the wrath of the other member nations. The War of the Six (1424AS-1515AS) Such a peace could not last forever, though. The War began when the Sameer Raj, in a surprise coup, installed a puppet ruler as head of the Bahrjak Union, and swiftly reshaped their confederation into an autocracy under the control of the Sameer Raj. With two members of the Council of Six under their control, Sameer Raj and the Bahrjak Union invaded the Yánshí Kingdom, and the Council of Six dissolved into infighting. Of the nations that could come to the aid of the Earthgifters, the Blitzane Empire was geographically hampered from providing timely aid, and the Śūnyatā Republic was not a strong military power. As a result, the war was long and brutal, with the Sameer Raj almost completely taking over the Yánshí Kingdom before the Blitzane were able to change the tide. The Blitzane formed an uneasy alliance with the ungifted Mersi raiders, and together they invaded from the West. In the last 30 years of the war, the Śūnyatā Republic invaded the Sameer Raj from the East, reconquering the Yánshí Kingdom in the name of freedom. With enemies on both sides, the Sameer Raj was overwhelmed, and eventually collapsed. The Second Council Era (1515AS-1837AS) After the devastating century of warfare, the Council was reformed in the hopes of creating a new era of peace. There were several changes made to this peace accord in the hopes of making a more lasting balance of power: * This Council had a broader mandate, including members from all nations, not just those of the Gifted. * The Sameer Raj's ruling structure was rewritten into a constitutional monarchy and demilitarized as punishment for their actions during the war. * The Bahrjak Union had their political structure reshaped as well, giving them a federated state and a stronger republican government, in the hopes that they would be less susceptible to outside interference. * The Council meets regularly 4 times a year, at solstices and equinoxes, and any member may call an emergency session of the council when conflicts between nations arise. * The Council established a military peacekeeping force of its own, with roughly equal recruits from every nation to ensure impartiality. This force is known as the Doomsday Patrol, and they are sent out to mediate disputes between nations and cut down on abuses of power. * Speaking of abuses of power, the Council established a list of principles of warfare and international interactions that dictated what is and is not acceptable conduct (including a list of war crimes and abuses of civil rights). Major rules include (but are not limited to): ** A law forbidding outside tampering of a nation's transitions of power. ** Laws specifying that one should not attack non-combatants in war. ** A law specifying that one cannot fake a surrender and then attack. ** Torture for interrogation is forbidden. ** Use of gifts to harm another person's internal functionality are forbidden.